Great visuals, story delivers no surprises

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

It is interesting even when nothing much happens, which is for most of its 3-hour running time. Read full review

The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.

I saw this picture under it's re-release title of "Monsoon", but that's neither here nor there. What strikes me is that once under way, the story made no sense at all, considering the sunken treasure at the center of it was literally at the doorstep of Captain Krogan's (Sidney Toler) native hut. Why didn't he and partner Johnny Pacific (Rick Vallin) just get it themselves instead of luring Clancy (John Carradine) and Burke (Frank Fenton) into this convoluted scheme? But I guess then you wouldn't have a story.While the men are involved in all manner of intrigue and fisticuffs, Gale Sondegaard provides a mysterious and exotic presence as Marge Wilson, proprietor of a gambling den on the Isle of Forgotten Sins. She's partial to Carradine's character, but I never got the attraction; in profile he looks anorexic, and the stripes didn't add any pounds to his frame. Considering they were partners, Clancy and Burke sure took out a lot of furniture over the course of the film, and if this were a Western, their first brawl would rank right up there as one of the best.But oh those underwater scenes! They were slow and downright boring if not so comical. There were a couple of times when the diver looked like he was about to fall over, and that's not easy when you're under water. Well you get what you pay for with these low budget poverty row efforts, and Producers Releasing was one of the poorest.Still, it's an interesting mix of actors with Carradine, Toler and Sondegaard in the mix. I got a kick out of Toler when he broke into Charlie Chan mode speaking to an island girl at one point. The finale is a hoot as Toler's Krogan shoots it out with partner Johnny at point black range, and they both empty their guns before finally going down. Then the monsoon hits, and even though there was warning, all of a sudden the hut is overwhelmed and floating out to sea! Well, the native chief saw it coming when he said there was 'much bad magic in the sky'. He might have been talking about the picture just as well.

ISLE OF FORGOTTEN SINS (1943) aka MONSOON is another of those South Sea Adventures so beloved by Hollywood in the 'GOLDEN AGE' of the studio system. The best of those films was THE HURRICANE (1937) which we rated IMDb Ten**********Stars. Thats why this film gets Two**Stars for it is only twenty (20%) percent as good. The film though resembles more TYPHOON (1940) IMDb Six******Stars. That PARAMOUNT production was nominated for a Academy Award for Special Visual Effects. No chance of that with this film. The only thing PRC has in common with PARAMOUNT is they both start with a 'P'! Like TYPHOON this ends with a big special effects scene done with all the skill PRC could muster. Which means there is nothing 'special' about it at all. I have seen children do better in their bathtub.The participants of this film were either needing a fast buck or had fallen on hard times starting with Director Edgar G. Ulmer. Yes, the same Director who created the classic THE BLACK CAT (1934). None of that originality is presented here. Sidney Toler must have wanted to stretch himself from his CHARLIE CHAN roles at MONOGRAM. Hard to tell if this was good move on his part. John Carradine obviously was in it for a fast buck and phoned in his role. As for Gale Sondergaard she must have made somebody very angry at the major studios. At that time she had already won the Acadamy Award for Best Supporting Actress and would be nominated again. Though it was interesting to see her in a sarong and show off her attractive and feminine figure. That is the sole reason to see this film.

Intriguing South Seas "epic" about a couple of roughs and their casino girlfriends that decide to steal gold they believe a customer to have on his private island. Trouble is that the customer tricks the two men et al so they will find treasure underwater only to be lifted after completion of said job. This little, low-budget film was directed by that once shining star Edger G. Ulmer - the director of 1934's The Black Cat. Like all of Ulmer's work, flashes of brilliance resonate throughout. Ulmer makes the most with a small budget. That being said, innovative use of struggling finance and truly imaginative uses of actors and camera angles do not necessarily make for a great film. Here they struggle to do just that - but come up somewhat short. Nonetheless, because of the talent here, Ulmer, John Carradine, Gale Sondergard, and Sidney Toler, and a quick, zippy pace, and some campy dialog, etc..- Isle of Forgotten Sins is better than one could or should expect. The leads of Carradine and love-interest Sondergard go against type, and while Carradine is always a thick slice of ham - he is always fun to watch. Toler, Charlie Chan himself, has a great time playing a heavy in the film. The girls that accompany the men are all knockouts. The story is where weakness - rising damp if you like - sets in. While the two chummy roughs fight between themselves over Sondergard and whatever else they can, neither is heroic in any real sense of the word. They are bad guys. Toler is a bad guy. So pulling for one over the other was difficult, especially since Toler seemed far more pleasant company. The other thing is that the low-budget really shows its depths when the "boys" dive trying to find the gold. The diver in the water is obviously a toy, gesticulating with its hand in the same motion over and over again. The scenes just look ridiculous. The boat and some of the exterior shots of the hotel, etc... look like miniatures too. The climatic ending also is rather excessive, but interesting.

This Producers Releasing Corporation distribution straight from poverty row has just about everything you could imagine or want to see and hear in a B picture second biller: barroom brawls, sunken treasure, a treasure map, an underwater grotto, double-crosses, fist fights, hold ups, restless natives, menacing drums, a big storm, and a flashlight-wielding marionette in a diving suit. But wait, there's more: classical music, torch songs, island ballads, synchronized swimming, beautiful girls wearing sarongs, Gale Sondergaard and above all, Sidney Toler naked to the waist and dripping wet in a bathing suit. If you have a taste for B movies, this is truly must see entertainment!